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Parent/Guardian Visiting Information

Visiting Information

Child Study & Treatment Center Policy 113

On admission each patient will have a list completed by the treatment team and legal guardian that outlines individuals approved to visit or have contact with the patient during their hospitalization. Only visitors on the official visiting list will be allowed on cottage. Visitors should bring current government issued picture identification and show it whenever asked.

Also noted on the document are the names of any individuals not allowed to contact the patient. The decision regarding which individuals are allowed or not allowed contact is based primarily on the wishes of the parent or guardian, with input from the child, and consultation of the treatment team. Disagreements between the parties are to be handled individually and are to include other outside information or ruling authorities, such as caseworkers or court decisions, in the decision making process.

While a parent or guardian has the right to have access to their child, within the context of their individual situation, the hospital has defined times when it is preferred that parents, guardians, other family members or community supports visit patients while at CSTC.

Each cottage has a Cottage Program Manual that outlines preferred visitation times based on the schedule of treatment activities. Typically the best times to visit are between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM Monday through Friday and 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Saturday, Sunday, or Holidays are the best time to visit. If the parent or guardian and treatment team have defined specific supervision needs related to a visitor, the time of visitation may be restricted to periods of time when the hospital has the resources to provide the defined supervision.

When a parent, guardian, other family member or community support person visits a child at CSTC, the location of the visit is determined by staff based on the treatment issues of the individual patient and the space available for the visit. For safety reasons, we cannot allow small children to visit casually in the cottage milieus.

Parents are responsible for the supervision of minor children and must have preauthorization for the visit. When a family has small children, we will work to identify a space off the cottage, or contained within the cottage, to make certain the small children are not able to co-mingle with other patients.

At no timewill small children be allowed to visit on the Close Attention Program - CAP area of Orcas Cottage. The treatment team will work with individual patients and families to try to accommodate visits as much as possible.

At any time a CSTC staff person identifies immediate safety risk during a visit, the staff person will request that the visitors immediately leave the area.

For therapeutic reasons or at the request of your legal guardian, or in compliance with court order, your visitation or phone contact may need to be supervised or limited. If this is the case your legal guardian, the visitor, and you will be told the reason.

Staff are instructed that they have the responsibility and authority to ask any visitor to leave if the visitor:

Is not following the above rules,

Is ignoring safe directions from staff,

Is disruptive to the milieu,

Is not dressed appropriately, or

If conditions on the cottage require visitors to exit for safety reasons. All visitors must promptly follow staff directions if asked to abbreviate a visit, move to another area, or exit the cottage.

For clinical reasons, an attending psychiatrist or the Medical Director, in conjunction with the cottage treatment team, may restrict visitors, telephone calls/mail to a specific patient. The patient and parent or legal guardian are to be informed of the indications for the restriction, therapeutic effectiveness of, and plan for termination of the restriction, if applicable. The reasons for the restriction will be recorded in the patient’s progress notes.